| CMU Daily - on the inside Monday 18th February |
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In today's CMU Daily:
- Universal faces royalty dispute with some classic artists
- MediaNet respond to publisher lawsuit
- Mick Fleetwood loses lawsuit over legendary BBC recordings
- Old hip hop legal battle returns
- Spector gives first TV interview about the murder case
- R Kelly accused of being inappropriate with publicist's daughter
- Britney fighting dad's control
- Macca Mills continues
- Dead Prez gig goers turn on police after fracas
- Album review: Sebastien Tellier - Sexuality
- T tickets sell out in an hour
- Lots of Brits nonsense
- Jim Aiken, Westlife, honoured at Meteors
- Usher's producer apologises over leak
- Ronson told to cut down on hangers-on
- Moshi Moshi release compilation
- Big Weekend venue announced
- Weller added to Exit line up
- Carpenter family home to be demolished
- Mini-album review: This Is Pop - This Is Pop
- The kids need to be told more about copyright
- Tele2 to fight Pirate Bay block order
- Groove and Indie Mobile partner
- BPI chair to stay on
- Later goes live
- Chart update
- Sub.tv playlist
- Total Rock world album chart
- Student Radio Chart
- Boston hit out at Huckabee
- Kerry Katona talk
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TOP BIT - WIN AN AIM SYNC GUIDE
The Association Of Independent Music recently launched a brand new 'e-guide' to all things to do with Synchronisation Licensing - ie the licensing of music by labels for use in adverts, games, films, TV shows or other such what not. It's an increasingly important part of the music industry, of course - with AIM reckoning that the licensing of music to TV and film alone generate £25 million of revenues for the record labels. And that's before you consider the role synchronisation has had in recent years in launching new talent into the mainstream, especially indie talent. The guide offers anyone in music - label owner, song publisher, artist manager, independent artist - all the essential info on the synchronisation licensing business plus a directory of over 100 key contacts.
The e-guide is free to AIM members, and it's available to everyone else for £40 via this link: http://www.musicindie.com/306.asp?sub=General%20Resources. However, we here at CMU have five copies to give away to Daily readers - one each day this week. To enter all you have to do is email the answer to this sync-related question to [email protected] by 4pm today - we'll pick out a winner and tell you the answer tomorrow. Easy.
QUESTION: The somewhat overplayed trailer for which British TV drama helped to break Gossip in the UK at the start of 2007 by using the still awesome (despite excessive playing on this trailer) 'Standing In The Way Of Control'?
Email your answer to [email protected] by 4pm today to be in with a chance of winning the e-guide.
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GO ONLINE WITH CMU...
Sportsday Megaphone on his musical influences: "Nic Nell is the only person I could name as influencing me, but that's because we're friends (doing something similar) and we have a way of pushing each other forward. He influences me in that sense. Not vocally though, I leave the falsetto stuff to him... and R Kelly".
Sportsday Megaphone answers CMU's Same Six Questions online this week - www.cmumusicnetwork.co.uk
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CMU RECOMMENDED
REMIX ALL-NIGHTER
The next CMU recommended Remix All-Nighter takes over the seOne Club at London Bridge next month for a brilliant pre-Easter party.
There'll be three rooms of fun. In the Remix room you'll get live sets from The Whip and Vitalic, plus Remix chief Eddy TM on the decks and VJ Fay Buzzard doing visual stuff. Next up will be a room hosted by Orbital co-founder and general dance music pioneer Phil Hartnoll, named for and showcasing his new venture Long Range. And then, to top off all that, there will be a whole room of all things Ninja Tune, featuring no less than DJ Food & DK, Coldcut (Jon Moore DJ Set), Bonobo, Daedelus, The Qemists and VJ Mox. Oh, and they've just added Busy P (Ed Banger) to the bill too. This night is going to be storming.
It all takes place on 20 Mar. Full info from: http://www.myspace.com/theremix
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SNAP OF THE DAY: GRAMMATICS
Having recently jumped off the back of a support slot on the Futureheads' UK-wide headline tour, it took just under two weeks for Leeds four-piece Grammatics to get back on the road again on their own merry jaunt across the country, which is currently six dates in. Taking elements of post-rock, the jerky, art-indie of their Sunderland peers and slipping in the perhaps more unusual addition of a cello, they've built a formidable live rep and, even from the three tracks on their MySpace, can boast a varied repertoire of song styles. New single 'Shadow Committee' is a good offering, but as a personal preference I'd plump for the sedate acoustic touch of b-side 'Broken Wing', a track that bursts into a cacophony of quivering noise a few minutes in. Pay a visit to their site below for a taster, but be warned that their enticing t-shirts (and, obviously, the music) may lead you to open your wallet sooner than usual.
http://www.myspace.com/grammatics
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UNIVERSAL FACES ROYALTY DISPUTE WITH SOME CLASSIC ARTISTS
Universal Music and one of its subsidiaries have "pervasively and systematically breached" artist agreements since at least 1998 by employing devious accounting tricks that conned artists out of royalties they were due. Not my words, I should add, but allegations made by a number of high profile artists in a lawsuit launched against the major record company in the New York courts last week.
Among the artists making the claim (or the estates of artists in the case of the dead ones) were Patti Page, Count Basie, Benny Goodman, Les Brown, Richard Hayman, Dick Hyman, Woody Herman, Kitty Kallen, Frankie Laine, Tony Martin, John Mills, Jerry Murad, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, and Sarah Vaughn.
The litigation claims Universal provided false information in its biannual royalty reports to artists between May 1999 and February 2007. It says: "Despite a relationship based on trust and manifold contractual obligations, and despite the fact that defendants realised an overwhelming windfall to both its finances and reputation as a result of this relationship" the major "utterly failed" to meet its contractual obligations. The lawsuit is seeking $6.07 million in allegedly lost royalties plus legal costs and punitive damages.
However, Universal has denied any wrong doing, saying in a statement on Friday: "We believe that these claims are baseless, and we are confident that we will prevail in court".
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MEDIANET RESPOND TO PUBLISHER LAWSUIT
More royalty disputes, and digital music provider MediaNet - formerly MusicNet - has hit out at the US's National Music Publisher Association who, as previously reported, have begun legal action against them.
As reported last week, the NMPA, representing publishing outfits like Sony/ATV, Peer International, Frank Music and MPL Publishing, have accused MediaNet of reneging on past commitments to pay publishing royalties - of both the 'performing' and 'mechanical' kind - on their on-demand and limited play download services. There is an ongoing dispute over what publishing royalties such MediaNet services should pay - especially with mechanical royalties - but the publishers argue that MediaNet have changed their position regarding paying some royalties for past services once an agreement is finally reached.
But MediaNet has denied any wrongdoing, and criticised the legal action arguing it is one of the few organisations that actually has a long history of working with music companies to properly licence digital music services, in a domain dominated by illegal unlicensed music operations. In a statement on Thursday the company said this: "This complaint is completely without merit. In an age of rampant piracy, MediaNet is one of the few companies, along with Napster and RealNetworks, that pays copyright holders and artists for their work. The suit is contrary to the core beliefs and business model under which MediaNet (aka MusicNet) has operated since its inception".
Although it has a low profile among consumers, MediaNet provides the back-end to digital music services operated by a number of other brands and retailers.
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MICK FLEETWOOD LOSES LAWSUIT OVER LEGENDARY BBC RECORDINGS
More from the pop courts, oh yes. Mick Fleetwood of Fleetwood Mac has lost his long-running legal battle against the Beeb in relation to the distribution rights of session recordings from the BBC's archives.
The dispute was between Fleetwood's company Bee Load Ltd and the BBC's commercial division BBC Worldwide. The former entered into a contract with the latter back in 2001 giving Fleetwood's company the right to release CDs featuring various BBC recordings of artists like Bruce Springsteen, U2, The Who, The Stones, The Beatles, Elton John, Santana, Led Zepp, you know, the little guys of rock.
The relationship fell apart in 2003, though, and Fleetwood claimed the Beeb were in breach of contract for refusing to work with his company, and sued through the US courts for damages (Bee Load being primarily based in the US).
However, a judge in Maine last week ruled in favour of the Beeb, concluding that it was Fleetwood's business partner, Joseph McNulty, who caused the business deal to fault, because he became "obsessed" with gaining exclusivity rights for distributing the BBC recordings, even though such rights were not part of the 2001 deal. BBC Worldwide execs, the judge ruled, did everything they could do to make the deal work despite McNulty's obsession with exclusivity, and could not be held liable for the ultimate collapse of the business relationship.
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OLD HIP HOP LEGAL BATTLE RETURNS
An old legal battle in the hip hop world could be about to enter one final stage, despite the fact one party of the original proceedings is dead, and the other bankrupt.
A new lawsuit has been filed by the husband of the late C Delores Tucker, the US civil rights activist and politician who became an enemy of the gangsta rap scene in the 90s by running a proactive campaign against it. Tucker took offence at the misogynistic and racist language employed by the big rappers of the day, and tried to stop them by calling for political action, by leading boycotts of retailers who sold the music, and by buying shares in major record companies and lobbying from the inside. The hip hop massive resisted Tucker's calls for self-censorship, and did much to bad mouth the campaigner, not least in a number of high profile rap releases (the fact Tucker's name rhymed with motherfucker helped in that regard).
The new lawsuit relates to a mid-nineties legal squabble between Tucker and Suge Knight's then mighty but now bankrupt hip hop label Death Row Records. In amongst the legal wrangling, Knight's company launched a lawsuit against Tucker accusing her and her associates of racketeering, and/or aiding and abetting racketeering, conspiring to violate, and abuse of process.
William Tucker and the estate of his late wife are now suing Knight's then attorney, David Kenner, accusing him of abusing the legal process back in the nineties as part of his client's wider aim of publicly discrediting Delores and her campaign against gangsta rap. The claim is that the original lawsuit was issued with malicious intent, designed to cause Tucker maximum bad press. The new lawsuit says the original legal action should be considered in the context of the public dissing of Tucker by Death Row rappers, most notably Tupac Shakur, and an advert placed in Source magazine which allegedly called for the civil rights campaigner's death.
The new legal papers say: "Kenner could be held responsible for the irresponsible assortment of criminal charges in the complaint against Tucker that he drafted and filed... A jury could well conclude that the special malice of the racketeering allegations owed their origin and presentation to the knowledge and skills of Kenner. An attorney cannot escape liability by saying, 'I was only a hired gun. My client and its CEO may have been malicious, but I was not'. Kenner could be found to have begun and continued the suit sharing the malice of his client and to have expressed malice in the drafting of the complaint".
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SPECTOR GIVES FIRST TV INTERVIEW ABOUT THE MURDER CASE
And talking of pop court cases of old, though not that old, let's return to Phil Spector shall we? Oh yes, you've probably forgotten, but this case is not closed. After last year's mistrial preparations are already underway for a second go at assessing whether or not the legendary producer did or did not shoot actress Lana Clarkson at his Beverly Hills mansion back in 2003. As previously reported, the second trial has been delayed until the Autumn because Spector has had to hire a whole new team of defence lawyers, who say they need more time to prepare.
Meanwhile, the reclusive Spector, who has given very few interviews since Clarkson died at this home, has given his first TV interview on the matter to the BBC. He has taken part in an Arena documentary about his life and career, and the incidents of that night at his home when actress Clarkson died - he, of course, claims she shot herself - will be part of the discussion.
The programme, 'Phil Spector: The Agony And The Ecstasy', is due to air in April, and its director, Vikram Jayanti, says that while he hasn't taken sides in the ongoing criminal case, he does believe Spector should be innocent until proven guilty. He told reporters: "An interview with Spector has been the Holy Grail for arts documentary makers for many years and I think he agreed to speak to us because he felt that we were inspired by a sense of empathy, though not of sympathy. We intend no disrespect to the dead woman. The whole thing was clearly tragic".
In his interview, Spector reportedly claims that his legal case is hindered by all the publicity around the case, which has portrayed him negatively. He says: "On the [original] jury selection questionnaire, 45 per cent of the jury pool said I was guilty based on pre-trial publicity and 20 per cent said I was insane".
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R KELLY ACCUSED OF BEING INAPPROPRIATE WITH PUBLICIST'S DAUGHTER
The husband of R Kelly's former publicist has spoken to an LA radio station about why she quit her role last year. George Daniels claims that his wife Regina stood down as R Kelly's PR because the R&B star acted "inappropriately" with her daughter.
There has been much rumour that Kelly slept with the Daniels' 21 year old daughter ever since Mrs Daniels told reporters last November that she had stopped working with the singer because "there are some lines that should never be crossed professionally or personally. Mr Kelly crossed a line that forever altered the scope of our relationship". According to SOHH.com, Mr Daniels last week confirmed to radio station KJLH that it was Kelly's relationship with his daughter that caused his wife to quit.
None of this is good for Kelly, who is still facing fourteen child porn charges after a series of allegations regarding inappropriate relationships with young women - though, obviously in this particular case, 21 isn't so young. Nevertheless, Daniels told reporters: "When you're 21, and if you've been there already like I've been many years ago, you're still 15 to 16 mentally. You're vulnerable". Referring to the sex tape doing the rounds of Kelly have sex with a girl alleged to be underage, he continued: "It didn't get to the extreme of that [sex tape] video or else I wouldn't be here, if you know what I'm talking about".
As previously reported, despite the nature of the allegations against Kelly, and the fact they've been bubbling around for the years, the R&B star's career hasn't really been affected. Whether comments made by the likes of Daniels, coupled with the actual trial on the matter - expected this year - will change that remains to be seen.
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BRITNEY FIGHTING DAD'S CONTROL
An attorney claiming to be acting on behalf of Britney Spears has filed papers requesting that the matter involving the conservatorship of her affairs be moved from the LA County Superior Court to the US federal courts, apparently in an attempt to remove the singer from the control of her father James Spears.
Lawyer Jon Eardley filed the document, which points out that Spears has not "received the benefit of a single hearing before the court", and "is being confined by the conservator to the private prison of her own home", which he says is a violation of her human rights.
He's the second legal rep to try and get the conservatorship overturned, of course; attorney Adam Streisand attempted to represent Spears over the matter in the days after the order was first made.
Experts say that Eardley's request is unlikely to succeed, however. Loyola Law School professor Peter Tiersma is quoted as saying: "Anyone who's under a conservatorship can argue that they've lost their civil rights. That's what a conservatorship does, it takes away some of your rights", adding that if Eardley succeeded, that it "would mean that anyone under a conservatorship could do this, and that's a loophole you could drive a truck through".
A family law attorney, one Alexandra Leichter says: "This is strictly a state matter. The fed court will not take jurisdiction of this case. That is so far-fetched and off the wall. They'll laugh them out of court".
Elsewhere in Brit news, the singer's estranged and restrained (by an order, not physical bonds) sometime manager Sam Lutfi is being investigated by police following allegations made by Spears' mother Lynne that he drugged the singer. Lutfi's new spokesman, PR 'guru' Michael Sands, says they're aware of the investigation. Previously a rep for Kevin Federline's lawyer Mark Kaplan, Sands, as previously reported, quit because he was uncomfortable with all the mud-slinging that was going on. Having worked against her, he says, he now wants to "rescue her". "We want to get her back onstage and doing the right thing", he told MTV news. "So I'm working with Sam to reinvent her image".
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MACCA MILLS CONTINUES
Back to the pop courts yet again, and the Macca/Mills divorce proceedings will return to court this week despite hopes the whole thing could be resolved in one week. As previously reported, this is a behind closed doors proceeding so we have no idea what's been going on, though that doesn't stop the tabs from speculating. Either way, it's sure to have been amusing and excruciating on equal levels given that Mills has been reportedly representing herself. We do know, however, that Mills took advantage of a incident outside the courtroom to take a little swipe at her ex. Macca was approached by a fan who wanted him to sign a Beatles album - but McCartney told him he couldn't sign things outside the court house. Said fan later told Mills about the incident, and she reportedly told him: "You should have told him that it's his fans who made him rich and famous. You put him where he is". The fan told The Sun: "I'm a lifelong fan of Sir Paul and the Beatles. I'm so disappointed. Heather was really nice about it. And I guess she was right".
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DEAD PREZ GIG GOERS TURN ON POLICE AFTER FRACAS
More than $30,000 of damage was caused on Friday night when fans went on a mini-riot after a Dead Prez gig at Evergreen State College in Thurston County, USA. Problems seemingly began after campus police responded to reports of a fracas at the college venue where the hip hop duo were performing. A female campus police officer arrested one person involved in the fracas and put him in the back of her patrol car. That act pissed off some other gig goers, who reportedly started to crowd around the police vehicle. When she called for back up things reportedly got nasty as the increasingly angry gig goers started (according to police) throwing rocks, bottles and rubbish at the reinforcement officers as they arrived. The rioters then turned their attention to one of the police's cars, which they kicked, smashed and graffitied. All in all quite a night. A police spokesman said most of the thirty grand of damage was to the trashed vehicle, and damage done to other police cars.
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ALBUM REVIEW: Sebastien Tellier - Sexuality (Lucky Number)
Gotta love the cover for this album, which is exactly the sort of thing you'd hope to see on a poster in an Athena shop in the 80s. Which is a good thing, obviously. Anyway, your man Tellier has got all sexed up for his third album, which is quite literally a soundtrack to the pre, during and post stages of coitus. Coming on like Jean Michel Jarre given a good seeing to by Daft Punk (or even the another way round), which is not totally surprising seeing as DP's Guy Manuel De Homem-Christo has produced it, 'Sexuality' also takes in the subtle layering of trance and electronica and even offers up a kind of futurist Gallic Beatles on the uber-happy fledgling love euphoria of 'Divine'. The album is full of filthy moans and sighs, which would probably sound a bit Carry On if this was someone English, but Tellier is of course French, so it manages to be sultry and sensual without sounding smutty. Well, mostly. Full of deft melodicism, edgy passion and moments of real beauty, 'Sexuality' is a tour de force of electronic erotic pop. Now if you'll excuse me, I need a lie down. Phew. MS
Release date: 25 Feb
Press contact: Bang On [all]
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T TICKETS SELL OUT IN AN HOUR
Tickets for this year's T In The Park sold out within an hour when they went on sale on Thursday. Forty thousand tickets were available for the 80,000 capacity event, early bird tickets having been sold previously, of course. Organisers say that fans may be able to get tickets from Ticketmaster TicketExchange, but that all their places have now gone.
This year's event, which features REM, The Verve and Kaiser Chiefs, takes place from 11 - 13 July. Festival Director Geoff Ellis says: "We are delighted that the buzz surrounding T in the Park continues to grow. We strive to keep the line-up fresh and exciting and continue to work with all our event partners to ensure that we offer the best festival experience possible for fans".
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LOTS OF BRITS NONSENSE
So, it's Brits week everybody, you can tell this because I'm wearing my special Brits hat, and I will be until the final bit of metal has been presented on Wednesday night. No, really. Anyway, here's some Brits news.
Firstly, the final shortlist for the public voted Best Single Award has been announced. The final five has been whittled down from the original ten shortlisted singles, and vying for your vote on Wednesday night will be Hoosiers, Leona Lewis, Mark Ronson/Amy Winehouse, Mika and Take That.
Elsewhere, organisers have confirmed that Doctor Who star David Tennant, that Ian McKellan fella, Gossip frontwoman Beth Ditto, Radio 1 bod Chris Moyles and the ubiquitous James Nesbitt will be among the c'lebs presenting awards on the night. Kylie is set to present Paul McCartney with his lifetime achievement prize.
Macca will not, however, perform a duet with Brits host Ozzy Osbourne, despite insiders saying that that had been suggested to the lifetime achievement winner who will, as tradition dictates, close the show with a short greatest hits set. Macca reportedly said he'd rather perform a couple of his big hits rather than try something quirky with Ozzy for the finale set.
Organisers still seem hopeful that Amy Winehouse will make it, with plans for her to perform her single 'Love Is A Losing Game' plus her Mark Ronson collaboration 'Valerie'. The tabs are reporting that the singer has been put on methadone and prescription drugs to make her well enough to perform at the Brits, with the Sunday Mirror quoting one source thus: "Amy would be far too sick if she was made to go through complete cold turkey. [Medics] have accepted the important thing at the moment is to get her through the awards shows". Whether that will all work remains to be seen - news that incarcerated husband Blake Fielder-Civil was rushed to the medical block at Pentonville Prison over the weekend after a suspected drugs overdose won't help Winehouse's attempts to pull her life back together.
Finally in Brits news - and sorry to end on a sour note - but Craig David has been dissing the big awards bash - possibly because of that 2001 thing where he was nominated in six categories but won none. He has told reporters he has "lost interest" in the awards because they fail to truly "represent" the reality of UK music. He told the BBC: "It's great for artists who pick up awards, but in terms of representing what's really going on, I think they've missed the eight-ball. The year that I was nominated for six, I couldn't have sold any more records or had any more number ones. To still not pick up one proved to me that however the voting system is and whatever the excuses were made, it just didn't really represent what was going on".
Of course you could argue that the Brits isn't meant to be based on chart success alone, but exists to combine commercial and creative success. Or you could agree with David and conclude that it's all a bunch of nonsense. Your choice really.
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JIM AIKEN, WESTLIFE, HONOURED AT METEORS
More awards, and the Irish music awards the Meteors have taken place, and Westlife took Best Irish Pop Act for the eighth year running. Also honoured was Belfast-based music promoter Jim Aiken, who, as previously reported, died last year, bringing to an end a career in which he brought acts such as Bruce Springsteen and The Eagles to Ireland.
Elsewhere, singer-songwriter Duke Special received Best Irish Male, Cathy Davey got Best Irish Female and Damien Dempsey got Best Folk/Traditional. Best Irish album was awarded to 'Addicted To Company' by Paddy Casey, and Best Irish Band went to Aslan. The Saw Doctors, meanwhile, got a lifetime achievement award, after celebrating twenty years in the business.
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USHER'S PRODUCER APOLOGISES OVER LEAK
Usher's producer Polow Da Don has apologised to the singer, because he's the one responsible for a recent leak of tracks from the R&B star's upcoming new album. He says he did it with the best intentions, however.
Da Don told MTV: "I told him when I saw him that I had to put my relationship on the line: `If it fails, I know you probably gonna be mad at me. I know you probably won't fuck with me anymore'. When I spoke to Usher, he was like, 'Maaaan, why'd you do it?'. He knew I leaked the record, he didn't have to ask. I was like, 'What?' He said, 'You know you leaked the record'. But he was getting good calls on it too. He wasn't mad, but he was like, `Why'd you do that?' Because everything has to be set up on their end. A video should be in place with an artist like that as soon as it drops. Those are the things you risk, but it's working out beautifully... Girls love it". Yeah, have a gold star if you followed all that.
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RONSON TOLD TO CUT DOWN ON HANGERS-ON
Mark Ronson's manager has told him he's got to cut down on the size of entourage he takes on tour with him, because it's eating into his profits. "My manager is annoyed with me, because I always bring so many people on tour with me. The costs are so high that I never make money from touring, but I don't really care about that. If we can break even, I'm fine. This isn't my day job. Producing records is my day job".
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MOSHI MOSHI RELEASE COMPILATION
Moshi Moshi are to release an an album of singles by the likes of Kate Nash, Friendly Fires and Danananaykroyd, all previously released via the label's Singles Club. Owners Michael McClatchey and Stephen Bass say this: "When we started Moshi Moshi Records in 1998 it was a singles label. Admittedly more through lack of resources than design. But it was a format we loved working with and gave us some of our favourite releases".
'Moshi Moshi Singles: 2006-2008' is out 7 Apr, and the tracklisting looks like this.
Danananaykroyd - Totally Bone
Matt And Kim - Silver Tiles
Rat:att:agg - Can We Fix It?
Kate Nash - Caroline's A Victim
Breakbot - Happy Rabbit
Slow Club - Because We're Dead
Pacific - Break Your Social System
Late Of The Pier - Bathroom Gurgle
The Wave Pictures - Now You Are Pregnant
Elle S'appelle - Little Flame
Friendly Fires - Paris
Lykke Li - Little Bit
Team Water Polo - Letting Go
Dels - Lazy
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BIG WEEKEND VENUE ANNOUNCED
This year's venue for Radio 1's Big Weekend has been announced. The free music fest will take place from 10 - 11 May at Mote Park, Maidstone, and will feature a performance from Scouting For Girls. A new stage has been added, the BBC Introducing stage, with the intention of giving a platform to new and emerging talent.
Most of the tickets will go to residents of Maidstone and Kent, with Radio 1 listeners asked to submit their details to be part of a postcode lottery type thing.
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WELLER ADDED TO EXIT LINE UP
Paul Weller has been announced as one of the headline acts at this year's Exit festival in Serbia. He joins previously announced acts such as The Sex Pistols and Nightwish on the bill for the event which takes place from 10 - 13 Jul.
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CARPENTER FAMILY HOME TO BE DEMOLISHED
According to reports, the California home where Karen and Richard Carpenter lived is to be demolished. The house, which featured on the cover of their 1973 album 'Now & Then', belonged to the pop duo's parents until their deaths, and was sold to one Manuel Parra in 1997 by Richard Carpenter. The Parras, however, have not been able to live with the constant visits from fans. They say they were accommodating in the early days, inviting people to look around, but that now things are out of control.
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MINI-ALBUM REVIEW: This Is Pop - This Is Pop (This is Fake DIY)
This isn't pop. Let's get that straight early on. It's synthy and occasionally scuzzy female-fronted Parisian art-rock, much like the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, the Raveonettes or Metric. It's good, not great, but good - if you're a fan of the aforementioned bands, you'll find a lot to like, but if none of the above have ever really turned you on, and you never saw the appeal of Ikara Colt's brilliant "never play anything slow, ever" approach, or the painfully raw but utterly incomprehensible early Idlewild records, then This Is Pop probably aren't for you. The band are certainly at their best when they're playing faster punkier songs. These tracks - the glorious rampancy of 'X-Berg' and the frenetic punk of 'Outside' in particular - stand out as excellent. The slower tracks, on the other hand, get dull remarkably quickly. Skip past those ones, and play the fast ones again. See? Far more fun. Now, where's the number for the people who enforce the Trade Descriptions Act? DG
Release Date: 11 Feb
Press Contact: Radar Maker [all]
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THE KIDS NEED TO BE TOLD MORE ABOUT COPYRIGHT
A new study from Microsoft says that the kids aren't the moral-less happy-to-steal thieves we all thought, they're just a bit clueless. They surveyed US kids between seventh and tenth grade, and found that there was widespread ignorance of copyright laws, meaning many of the kids who illegally download music and other content off the net don't actually realise that what they are doing is illegal.
The consensus is that the music industry has to do more to promote copyright and the fact P2P file-sharing is illegal, and that if they did less kids would access free content via Limewire et al. Of course the record industry has done quite a bit of educational stuff in this domain before, though it never ceases to amaze me how many people young and old remain ignorant regarding what is and isn't legal in online content, and as such ongoing proactive education is seemingly required. Microsoft is supporting such a programme in the US.
The Microsoft study found that 49% of the kids surveyed didn't know about copyright laws. Of those who did, 80% said copyright violators should be punished, while 49% of all of those surveyed said there should be punishment for infringers.
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TELE2 TO FIGHT PIRATE BAY BLOCK ORDER
More P2P, and Danish internet service provider Tele 2 is challenging that previously reported court ruling that has forced the ISP to block customer access to rogue BitTorrent tracker The Pirate Bay.
The blocking of the service is part of the music business' attempts to bring down the tracker enterprise, which is a popular source of illegal content of course. Tele2 have compiled with the order to block access to The Pirate Bay but, having consulted with other ISPs operating in Denmark, has said it will appeal the decision.
Meanwhile, The Pirate Bay claims that by providing alternate web addresses Danish file sharers continued to access its service, and that on the back of the publicity surrounding the Tele2 court case use of the service in Denmark is up 12%.
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GROOVE AND INDIE MOBILE PARTNER
Mobile music company Groove Mobile has announced a new worldwide licensing deal with the PIAS owned aggregator Indie Mobile which will see some 70,000 indie tracks added to the Groove Mobile roster. The deal was confirmed at last week's Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, and will give Groove the right to sell full track downloads, videos and realtones for the songs in the Indie Mobile catalogue.
Indie Mobile MD Seth Jackson said this: "Groove Mobile's dynamic platform will have a tremendous impact on our global reach. We will be able to market full tracks directly to consumers as well as significantly enhance the [mobile] work we do with bands at live events. We look forward to launching groundbreaking initiatives together in 2008".
Groove Mobile's marketing chief Adam Sexton added: "At Groove Mobile, we have always been focused on the music, and this new agreement with Indie Mobile will bring some of the leading independent artists to our wireless carrier partners around the world".
Groove Mobile, which works with Vodafone and 3, and has licensing deals with SonyBMG and Universal, operates in the US, Canada, Australia UK, and elsewhere in Europe, and claims to have completed 60 million mobile music transactions since launching in 2004.
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BPI CHAIR TO STAY ON
UK record industry trade body BPI has announced that Tony Wadsworth will stay on as the body's Chairman despite him leaving the top job at EMI UK as part of EMI new owner's Terra Firma's radical restructuring at the London based major. Normally a member of the BPI Council who stops working for a record company would be expected to stand down, however an EGM of the trade body has voted that Wadsworth should stay on nevertheless. BPI Chief Exec Geoff Taylor explained: "Tony has been an outstanding chairman for the BPI and both [Vice-Chair] Mike [Batt] and I have enjoyed working with him immensely. Our three-way team has put in place an ambitious agenda for 2008 and beyond, and I'm delighted that Tony is able to continue".
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LATER GOES LIVE
The BBC have announced that 'Later With Jools Holland' will have a slight revamp when it returns in April, airing live in a Tuesday night 10pm slot. The live show will be repeated in Later's usual Friday at 11.30pm slot. The Tuesday show will be just half an hour, while the Friday repeat will be the traditional hour, with additional performances.
Music Week quote Later's Exec Producer Mark Cooper thus: "We've always recorded live so it's great to be going live to air and to have a new challenge and a new time slot after more than 200 shows. Think of the live show on the Tuesday as the taster and Friday night as the full meal".
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CHART UPDATE
So, Basshunter is no longer top of the UK singles chart, 'Now You're Gone' falling down to number three yesterday. But Nickelback's 'Rockstar' stayed in second place, meaning they haven't got that 'longest in the chart before going number one' record it was thought they might get if they went top this week. The number one spot has been taken by that buzzy, buzzy Duffy, who goes to the top with new single 'Mercy' based on dowload sales alone. Well done her.
The highest new entry in the albums chart this week is Michael Jackson, whose 25th anniversary reissue of 'Thriller' goes in at 3 - Jack Johnson staying top with 'Sleep Through The Static' and Nickelback sliding up to position 2 with 'All The Right Reasons'. Morrissey's hits album goes in at 5, while One Night Only goes in at 10 with 'Started A Fire'.
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SUB.TV PLAYLIST
Here they are again, the videos being played this week on the Sub.tv video screen network in students' unions all over the UK. New entries marked with a *.
A-List
Adele - Chasing Pavements (Beggars/XL)
The Cribs - I'm A Realist (Wichita)
David Jordan - Sun Goes Down (Universal/Mercury)
Editors - Push Your Head Towards The Air (SonyBMG/Kitchenware)*
Goldfrapp - A&E (EMI/Mute)
Joe Lean and The Jing Jang Jong - Lonely Buoy (Universal/Mercury)
Kelly Rowland - Work (Freemasons Mix) (SonyBMG/RCA)
Kylie Minogue - Wow (EMI/Parlophone)*
Mark Ronson feat. Alex Greenwald - Just (SonyBMG/Columbia)
MIA - Paper Planes (Beggars/XL)
The Rascals - Suspicious Wit (Deltasonic)
Simple Plan - When I'm Gone (Warner/Atlantic)
Those Dancing Days - Hitten (Wichita)
Vampire Weekend - A Punk (Beggars/XL)
We Are Scientists - After Hours (EMI/Virgin)
The Whitest Boy Alive - Golden Cage (Modular)
B-List
Alphabeat - Fascination (Charisma)
Amy MacDonald - Run (Universal/Mercury)
The Blakes - Two Times (Light In The Attic)
Boy Kill Boy - Promises (Universal/Vertigo)
Does It Offend You, Yeah? - We are Rockstars (EMI/Virgin)
Doug Walker - The Mystery (Warner)*
Fightstar - Floods (Institute)*
The Futureheads - The Beginning of the Twist (Nul)
Gallows - Just Because You Sleep Next To Me Doesn't Mean You're Safe (Warner)*
Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly - Find The Time (Warner/Atlantic)
Guillemots - Get Over It (Universal/Polydor)*
The Metros - Education Part 2 (SonyBMG/1965)*
Operator Please - Get What You Want (Brille)
The Ting Tings - Great DJ (SonyBMG/Columbia)
Vincent Vincent & The Villians - Pretty Girl (EMI)*
XX Teens - How To Reduce Your Chances Of Becoming A Terror Victim (EMI/Mute)*
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TOTAL ROCK WORLD ALBUM CHART
It's this week's Total Rock World Album Chart, as counted down on Total Rock over the weekend - http://www.totalrock.com. New entries and re-entries marked with a *.
1. Led Zeppelin - Mothership (Swan Song)
2. Foo Fighters - Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace (SonyBMG)
3. Bullet For My Valentine - Scream Aim Fire (SonyBMG)*
4. Eagles - Long Road Out Of Eden (Universal)
5. Linkin Park - Minutes To Midnight (Warner Bros)
6. Nickelback - All The Right Reasons (Warner/Roadrunner)
7. The Mars Volta - The Bedlam In Goliath (Universal)
8. Bon Jovi - Lost Highway (Universal/Mercury)
9. Bruce Springsteen - Magic (SonyBMG/Columbia)
10. Paramore - Riot! (Warner/Atlantic)
11. Airbourne - Runnin Wild (Warner/Roadrunner)*
12. Daughtry - Daughtry (SonyBMG)
13. Queen - Greatest Hits Vols. 1, 2, 3 (EMI)
14. Buckcherry - 15 (Eleven Seven Music)
15. Godsmack - Good Times, Bad Times - Ten Years Of Godsmack (Republic)
16. Kid Rock - Rock - N Roll Jesus (Warner/Atlantic)
17 Avenged Sevenfold - Avenged Sevenfold (Warner Bros)
18. Serj Tankian - Elect The Dead (Serjical Strike)
19. Guns n Roses - Greatest Hits (Universal/Geffen)
20. Fall Out Boy - Infinity On High (Universal/Mercury)
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STUDENT RADIO CHART
As played out live on air on 11 student radio stations every Sunday at 3pm, it's the official Student Radio Chart from the Student Radio Association. Check http://www.studentradiochart.com for details of how you can listen to the chart show online each Sunday.
1. [2] Hot Chip - Ready For The Floor
2. [3] Blood Red Shoes - You Bring Me Down
3. [1] Mystery Jets Ft Laura Marling - Young Love
4. [4] Kanye West Ft Chris Martin - Homecoming
5. [10] I Was A Cub Scout - Pink Squares
6. [7] Robyn - Be Mine
7. [5] The Wombats - Moving To New York
8. [New] Foals - Cassius
9. [New] Art Brut - Pump Up The Volume
10. [12] Goldfrapp - A&E
11. [6] Los Campesinos! - Death To Los Campesinos!
12. [New] Guillemots - Get Over It
13. [New] The Futureheads - The Beginning Of The Twist
14. [New] Jimmy Eat World - Always Be
15. [17] Les Savy Fav - Patty Lee
16. [11] Tegan And Sara - The Con
17. [14] Lupe Fiasco - Superstar
18. [18] Morrissey - That's How People Grow Up
19. [15] Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds - Dig Lazarus Dig!
20. [13] The Maccabees - Toothpaste Kisses
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BOSTON HIT OUT AT HUCKABEE
It must be hard being a right wing politician, when so many of the great songs of recent history have been written by songwriters with leftish leanings - who do you pick to play at your political rallies? Another US band have complained at a Republican presidential candidate using their music at their events.
As previously reported, long-term Democrat John Mellencamp recently complained when Republican hopeful John McCain used his music during his primary campaign in the US. Now rock band Boston have hit out at McCain's rival for the Republican candidacy, Mike Huckabee, for using one of their songs as part of his campaign.
Huckabee does have the support of one former member of Boston - Barry Goudreau - and he has been involved in the performances of Boston track 'More Than A Feeling' at the Republican's rallies (Goudreau plays it with Huckabee and the presidential hopeful's own band Capitol Offense).
But the rest of the band have taken offence at the use of their song by the politician, arguing Goudreau was only in the band for three years over two decades ago, and their use of it implies the current band support Huckabee's conservative agenda, which they don't.
Founder Tom Scholz has written a letter to Huckabee that says: "Boston has never endorsed a political candidate, and with all due respect, would not start by endorsing a candidate who is the polar opposite of most everything Boston stands for. By using my song, and my band's name Boston, you have taken something of mine and used it to promote ideas to which I am opposed. In other words, I think I've been ripped off, dude!"
Huckabee's spokesman has called the allegations ridiculous, saying the song has only ever been performed when Goudreau has attended political events.
Still, I think we owe it to right wing politicians everywhere to put together a list of the artists who won't object to their music being played at their rallies - just so they know. Anyone to add?
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KERRY KATONA TALK
She's hardly music news any more, really, but it's scurrilous, and that's alright for us. The News Of The World claims that loads of footage from Kerry Katona's new reality show has been cut because it portrays her in such a bad light.
It's supposed to be a 'no holds barred' type thing, but the idea is to show her in a good light, I think, not a bad one. Anyway, insiders say that she's smoking heavily, despite being pregnant for a fourth time. A source says: "She's still on 20 a day. In the early days the official word from Max Clifford was that Kerry had one cigarette a day to calm her nerves. But all the time she would say, 'You have to turn the cameras off, I need to have a smoke.' I think it's appalling".
An insider also apparently revealed that her marriage isn't as happy as she's trying to make out, saying: "Kerry has got Mark's mobile. She's become convinced he's having an affair. Kerry knows he has been unfaithful to her but she sticks with him. He looks after her and she's looking to him for something - the type of thing you look to your parents for. It's not a normal relationship".
Yeah, but what is normal, eh? Poor lass.